Dead Man's Hand 2026

Sit down, matey. Grab yer cards and hold 'em close. Come your turn, do one simple thing; raise the bet or call someone a bilge-rat liar. Simple as that. Read the table. Trust yer gut. Bluff like yer life depends on it. Because out here, it does!

Players bid on how many times a chosen number appears across every card dealt that round, and each turn either raises that bid or accuses the previous player of lying. Once someone is accused, all hands are revealed and the bid is checked against them. Whoever guessed wrong picks up a Mark, and the fewer Marks a player collects over the course of the game, the better off they are. In the corsair mode (advised way to play), numbered cards can be played from hand once per turn for a special effect before the reveal: playing every 2 in hand doubles the value of Compass wildcards, playing a 3 draws a new card for each one played, 4's allows you to simply repeat the current bid, a 5 lets a player draw from any opponent's hand, and a 6 forces the next player's bid up by two steps. Five unique Master cards raise the stakes further, offering effects like drawing extra cards when accused or shedding a Mark after a successful bluff. The game ends once a player reaches a set number of Marks. Whoever has the fewest Marks at that point wins Dead Man's Hand.

—description from the designer